A supervisory special agent at the FBI has confirmed a key element of IRS agents’ testimony that they were blocked from interviewing Hunter Biden as part of their investigation into his criminal activities, Republicans’ top investigator said Monday.
The agent, whose name was not divulged, said higher-ups at the FBI tipped off the Secret Service a day before the interview was to take place in December 2020. Word then came down to put off the interview, the agent said in testimony to the House Oversight and Accountability Committee.
“As a result of the change in plans, IRS and FBI criminal investigators never got to interview Hunter Biden as part of the investigation,” Rep. James Comer, Kentucky Republican and chairman of the committee, said in a summary of the testimony he released publicly.
The claim comes two days before the whistleblowers, IRS Special Agent Greg Shapley and another agent identified as “Mr. X,” are slated to appear before the committee.
The Ways and Means Committee last month released testimony from the two men in which they said their attempt to build a case against Mr. Biden, the president’s son, was hindered at many turns. They said they’ve never seen a case handled this way.
The FBI agent agreed. He said he had never been told to wait outside to be contacted by a target before, Mr. Comer said in his summary of Monday’s testimony.
“The Justice Department’s efforts to cover up for the Bidens reveals a two-tiered system of justice that sickens the American people,” Mr. Comer said.
Hunter Biden has agreed to plead guilty to two tax misdemeanors and to acknowledge the evidence that could charge him with a firearms felony. Under the deal he struck, prosecutors are proposing no prison time and the felony gun charge would disappear if he keeps a clean nose while serving probation.
A judge must approve the deal.
The deal was struck by the U.S. attorney in Delaware, a holdover from the Trump administration.
The IRS agents said the case should have been brought elsewhere, either in California or the District of Columbia, but they contend that the Biden-appointed prosecutors in those jurisdictions refused.
The agents said Hunter Biden should have faced more tax charges, including several felonies.
In their testimony, they said Hunter Biden’s reckless behavior included flying prostitutes to meet him for sex and then writing off the money he paid them as business expenses.
They also uncovered a tantalizing message from his iCloud account where he suggested that his father was involved in his business dealings.
The White House has insisted that the president kept his son’s business dealings at arm’s length.
The IRS agents said they had planned a Dec. 8, 2020, interview with Hunter Biden. That would have been after his father was elected president but before he took office.
The night before, they and the FBI agent learned that FBI headquarters had notified the Secret Service and learned that the Biden transition team was also aware. The agents said that was not part of the plan.
